Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I was so very excited to bring to you a special tape-delayed broadcast of British DIY/postpunk legends The Homosexuals featuring Bruno Wizard, and it was indeed a treat for all of my terrestrial listeners and live-streamers, but unfortunately, the Freeform KDVS archives did not catch the stream, as they were taken down for maintenance over the weekend, and there was a problem getting the system back online in time for this broadcast. Surely, that means I'm gonna hafta update this post when a future rebroadcast is successfully saved to our archive tree. Watch for that later this week when DJ Simi gives it a twirl. And if things aren't working by then, I suppose we can do it again next week. It really is a delight to hear it.

So, here's what you woulda heard, followed by some notes about this outstanding "reunion" of The Homosexuals...

This is what I splashed down on the laptop just after seeing The Homosexuals perform in a living room (and nigh on a week later, I still believe every word of this)...

I just saw The Homosexuals tonight in a house in Davis, CA. Just got home from it. It was absolutely outstanding and will surely live on as a forever memory for me, and probably most of the 90-or-so people that crowded into that living room tonight. It was another one of those shows where I turned around and looked and saw kids in their early to mid teens, college-aged kids, and middle-aged record collector nerds all dancing and/or smiling or just looking totally riveted.

It is just Bruno flanked by a band of thirty-somethings who were very capable and knew all the old songs well, and they also excelled at jamming those songs out and keeping things going during a bass amp failure and MASH unit amp revival. Mostly, during those parts, it was spirited monologues that went on some tirade angles and some preachy righteous angles, but even that was undeniably awesome as it was probably greater than any oratory we had witnessed. It was also rhythmic enough to count as music. And even when preachy or pissed, it was poetic and actually very engaging.....not at all like dour or condescending sort of Englishness that bums most of us Yanks out. And he had some moments of great comedic timing and cleverness. His singing voice stayed strong even despite all the oratory.

As for the music, all the old songs sounded new again. Remember those old films from the 50's that were reenactments of great moments in history? "YOU WERE THERE!" This show was like that if it were only authentic.

Making this all the more mindboggling to me is that this was a last-minute show that was thrown together in just a few days to fill a hole in the tour schedule after their Portland show. This was an early-starting house-show. The whole band including the old man had been awake since 6:00 a.m. and drove 10 hours straight through before playing in this sauna-like room. Bruno looks like a corpse, yet he was incredibly sharp and very energetic throughout the 90 minutes they performed. Almost no one left until the music stopped. He finished with an encore of jangly solo songs so as not to invite the cops who miraculously hadn't showed up yet, as they are usually quick to do the moment it strikes 10:00 in Davis. I stayed for about 20 minutes of that and had to pry myself away due to extreme hunger and the feeling of wooziness. Yep....I was no match for the old man tonight.

The dude is the real deal. His band sounds like the real deal.

The Homosexuals on tour gets my highest recommendation.

By the way, since when did Zamfir join Thee Oh Sees? Their brand-new LP--Help--is by and large more of a straightforward rocker and perhaps the most aggressive thing that John Dwyer has unleashed since Yikes, but this panflute solo on "Meat Step Lively" is a well-placed break from that. Can't wait to see 'em bring it at KDVS presents Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom VII this year. More to come about that in coming weeks!

5 comments:

The Homosexuals sucked at SXSW. I guess maybe it's because he is old and they are not the Homosexuals. But maybe it was better when you heard it. Too bad! I still love the Homosexuals, and especially all their wonderful side projects. LUFF, ANDY

Most of the few scathing reviews I've read of the current Homosexuals lineup live have been from folks who saw them in New York or Austin. It could be that our show here in Davis was magical because of its incredibly intimate environment...a sauna-like living room. And Bruno's non-stop talking was not so much like a monologue as it was a dialogue with us. Then again, I've heard many times about bands who are routinely great in live performance falling short at an event like SxSW, where a good many of bands have gotten wasted on free booze before the jetlag wore off and they played on borrowed equipment.

haha, it would be a trip to hang out with dj rick and bruno at the same time! maybe it'll happen someday! (this is shelley from tyvek by the way). Can't wait to check that live set out.

I am actually pretty surprised to see anyone say the Homosexuals sucked. I think they're one of the best bands around, based upon their Detroit show in November (ok it was in Pontiac), and 3 times at SXSW. Yeah, SXSW is really not the ideal situation to see a band in. Can't really expect them to be at 100% given the factors that Rick mentioned and that they played 20 other shows (I know the Homosexuals played an insane amount of shows down there). Still, hard to believe they sucked. Difference of opinion I guess! As Bruno said at the Pontiac show, "If I say they're the Homosexuals, then they're the fucking Homosexuals."

Andrew Meehan clearly doesn't know anything about the homosexuals. I saw them a few times at SXSW, at a sold out show in LA and again in NYC and they destroyed every time, never saw anything like it. The guys playing now could have fooled me, they sound better than the other two original guys, Anton & Jim. Ever hear those old live tapes from the early eighties? They were the worst. These fellas were the real deal, glad I caught it. Btw...Shelley, saw Tyvek at SXSW too. Good stuff.

About Me

As long as DIY bands and artists keep me amazed, I will keep doing radio and extreme-blogging as a tribute to them. In case you are an old classmate looking for me, yes, this is "Rick Ele" here.
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